The director of PURRR Rescue, a Washington-based dog rescue group, admitted in text messages from her phone that she has used tasers to help her control her dogs.
Diana VanDusen said in a text conversation that she touched the cage of one of her dogs with a taser and “blasted her on the foot.”
She added that the charge went thru cage to the dog’s feet and “she instantly let go jolted back.” She also said the shock was like “hitting an election (she meant electric) fence.”
After she shocked the dog she said to “snapped to go after me I screamed she stopped.” She also said, “The pain caused her to trigger.”
Here are the screenshots that several people sent to me from Facebook:
Diana VanDusen admits to tasering dogs. Screenshot #1
Diana VanDusen admits to tasering dogs. Screenshot #2
Using a taser to control dogs is dog abuse, pure and simple.
Other people have said she also keeps shock collars on the dogs to stop them from barking:
People who have seen PURRR’s dogs say VanDusen uses shock collars to control them.
PURRR Rescue is already under scrutiny. In December the Tacoma News Tribune reported that over the course of about a month last summer, 3 dogs adopted out by PURRR killed 2 cats and 2 dogs. 2 of the dogs had to be euthanized and another is at a boarding facility at Joint Base Lewis McChord.
And in 2013, a dog adopted from PURRR mauled a 6 year-old-boy after it had bitten the father and 2 of the children of the family in the month after they adopted it. That dog was euthanized as well.
The Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County and Metro Animal Services in Puyallup stopped releasing dogs to VanDusen, and the City of Lakewood denied her business license application because allowing her to keep adopting out dogs could be “injurious to the public health, safety and welfare.”
Currently, VanDusen has about 20-25 dogs that live outdoors in kennels. She’s had most of them for over a year, and after her business license was denied in Lakewood, she’s hidden them in an undisclosed location.
Pictures and videos from the PURRR Facebook page show the dogs are living outside in kennels inside pop-up tents scattered around a fenced-in yard.
People who have seen the dogs there say the tents are heated with electric heaters, and still shots from a PURRR video show extension chords scattered around the yard going into all the tents. This is extremely dangerous. A tent could quickly go up in flames if a heater malfunctions.
In this screenshot of a video from the PURRR Facebook page you can see the orange extension chord leading to a pop up tent where the dogs’ kennels are. Sources say the chords are used to provide power for electric heaters. Image from PURRR Rescue.
These new revelations about PURRR Rescue are extremely disturbing. Reputable rescues:
Still shot of one of the pop up tents PURRR uses to store the dogs in their kennels. The video for this shot has since been taken down from the PURRR Facebook page. Image from PURRR Rescue.
- Don’t use a taser on their dogs
- Don’t house their dogs in kennels or keep them in boarding for months
- Don’t keep their dogs in tents outside
- Don’t use a bunch of extension chords and electric heaters to keep dogs warm
- Don’t hide their dogs from the public
Other rescues have offered to take dogs from PURRR to help, but so far VanDusen has refused their offers.
In fact, she’s still bringing up dogs from California to sell.
This is unacceptable.
Using tasers and shock collars on dogs trapped in kennels is not only abusive, it can make them extremely aggressive and create behavioral problems.
Keeping dogs in kennels for months isn’t rescuing them.
Neither is adopting dogs out that get euthanized due to severe aggression problems.
As we saw with the Olympic Animal ‘Sanctuary” in Forks, keeping dogs hidden from the public and refusing help from other groups are troubling signs that a rescue may not be operating with the best interests of the dogs in mind.
I hope VanDusen will change her mind and allow other groups to take her dogs. Until then, the public scrutiny of PURRR Rescue will continue.
This is just disgusting, and once again, proves all the allegations against her to be true. This IS animal abuse. She can and should be charged soon for these crimes. This is NOT rescue, this is someone using dogs to make money, and live off of. Dog flipping at its finest. Why is she not in jail yet? Are shelters STILL sending dogs to her? Will they continue once she is in jail? This make me literally ill. The torture that dog suffered by HER hands is imaginable. Do unto others, and I would love to do that to her. A caged dog, with no way to get out of defend itself, wow, just astounding.
Diana was still getting dogs in December 2014. Ana Jiminez adopted a pit bull puppy with a serious anal protrusion from a Los Angeles area shelter and the puppy was transported to her the same day as the pup had surgery. Later that evening the pup was playing at Diana’s and the stitches ripped, he had to be rushed to her vet where on top of the anal protrusion he was diagnosed with pneumonia. We haven’t been able to get any further information on the puppy.
I know Diana very personally I work with Diana and she’s never ever used a Tayser or anything harmful on her dogs before whatsoever I’ve worked with Purrr Rescue and I still do work at Purrr Rescue even know I am in Arizona that is one of the best rescues and she would never put any type of harmful material or use any form for material on her dogs whatsoever so for the person and I know this person not personally but over the computer I will bless her as far as I can. The person who gave you this information also works for the rescue and she’s nothing but a backstabbing liar and is raised all this money for her and hasn’t shown her a single dime of that I will Baptist rescue up for him wide as I possibly can if you have any comments or any questions you can please forward them to me I’ll be happy to answer them Diane is doing the best you can for all the dogs she has saved and rescued and placed in good homes she is not a bad person she is one of the best people I know an I will help her until I die.
If you have any evidence to prove your allegations please send it to info@seattledogspot.com. I’ll be happy to retract anything I wrote that can be proven to be incorrect.
So you are saying the screen shots were not that of Diana? Let me guess, someone broke into her account and pretended to be her? Only excuse there would be and that would be a lie, especially if the police came in and checked HER records. Should we ask them since you are so sure? Someone also pretended to be her, even looked like her, and knowingly adopted out a biting dog. My gawd, you people cant even believe the truth when its there in HER OWN WRITING. How many times have you made the trip from AZ to WA? Were you reimbursed for the travel expenses? Maybe when you live here and see in person the sham she is, you’d change your tune and your defense of the rescue and its founder. If you believe that tazering a dog is not bad, then I can sell you a bridge for cheap. Any bridge. You choose.
How can you judge a person from your computer? Cant you see.that in her own words she admits to using a taser on a caged dog! A dog that is now so vicious and co.fused it stikes out at the person that hurts it. NONE ARE SO BLIND AS THOSE THAT REFUSE TO SEE!
Jess, how can you be in Az and “work” with a Wa rescue? You look foolish and unintelligent making such a illogical statement.
You say you know her personally but then a few lines down say you only know her through the computer. You have ZERO credibility since you’ve never even been to her place.
She’s been CAUGHT using taser while they are crated. She made gordan vicious with her techniques. APPARANTLY you don’t know her So. Well.
http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/purrr-rescue-needs-shelter-for-23-dogs-new-location-911/271100
If you donated, you are enabling this woman and helping her hurt more dogs. What is wrong with you?
What not enough California dogs in WA already to torture and kill?
http://rescuedpitbulls.com/
Oh THIS MUST be a joke: http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/7637/9/
Wonderful rescues do NOT do this: https://www.seattledogspot.com/dog-news/dog-adopted-purrr-rescue-mauled-6-year-old-2013/
More dirty Diana: http://www.rescuemonitor.org/purrr.html
Wonderful Yelp reviews. NOT: http://www.yelp.com/biz/p-u-r-r-r-rescue-lakewood
So who would like to keep giving her dogs? She may need more tazer practice.
This is the vilest form of abuse a “rescuer” can inflict on already abused shelter dogs. Charges for animal abuse should be brought against this woman.
HER rescues pose a danger to other pets and people- why on earth would going from a high kill shelter where they are caged- then put in a truck for 1200 miles in a cage,then go to PURRR and live in a cage AND get brutality tased by a supposed rescuer that charges $400.00 to $800.00 for the dogs be acceptable. Her pets are for profit. Many have captions that read “not sure how they do with kids or small animals”. That is disturbing, they are being released to neighborhoods unaware of the danger posed. After looking at her adoptable pit bulls, it’s obvious from the scaring on their heads, they have come from horrible abuse- rehabilitating these poor creatures will take more that PURRR has the ability to do. ” IF ” Ms. Van Duran has a heart at all, she needs to let capable rescues and professionals evaluative their temperament. If adoptable, they need placement in homes that can handle and are aware of the possible danger of abused dogs.
Many people are fearful of pit bulls, these abused dogs are not going to be helping ambassadors for their breed, they further the fear, and rightfully so…
This is a crime- Why isn’t this stopped by law enforcement?
And, if Van Duran has 20 pit bulls for the last year not adopted, why would she be “rescuing” more? The fundraising online is asking for money for sheds to get the dogs out of the cold, looks like that didn’t happen. Are they being fed?
I know that this story is from a while back. but I am confused,. I adopted my pit bull, belle from purrr. this was back in February 2014. Diana went through all of her history. And we were told the full extent of bellies abuse And past. we were w told, by Diana, that belle was one worse cases abuse she had ever seen. she hadbeen badly beaten, and had her jaw broken, wAs completely emaciated, you could count every bone in her, even this day only one ear goes up, and tongue always hangs out of her mouth. Diana showed great affection, with our dog. they showed us, pictures of belle when she was in the California kill shelter. it was heartbreaking. But in February when we were looking at pet smart, she a very well fed, healthy and happy as can be. After we adopted belle, we would take her to visit Diana a once a month. Andevery time belle saw Diana, she got, super excited and grateful. And Diana, had nothing but, love right back. she always showed great concern, and anytime, we visited, if she noticed wrong, she sends us, the for free. Our Pitt bull, is one of the sweetestthing. I have3 kids, and had a lab as well. she is incredible. SoI am confused, because if the taser thing is true, and neglect, why havnt my pit, never once been afraid, but instead greatfull , and giving Diana lot’s of love. I think Diana Maybe guilty of wanting to save them, all. Andbit off way more than you chew. andshe definitely needs be to be doing temperament testingI, and adequate, rehabilitation. And as for the people, who are fostering, or adopting rescue dog’s, especially, pits You have to do the research, on the breed, and how abuse effects them and what to expect. And to always get them into a training class, because Your new to them,.
Now my pitbull is a , unique case. She went through hell, and, she just let it go . she lets us know her limits, she is scaredof big dogs, she doesn’t anything about it. She just a way.
so I am just putting my own, personal, exppierence with purrsI.
I’m glad you had a good experience with PURRR rescue. I have never said that there are problems with all there adoptions. But there are enough people/animal control offices who have reported major problems with dogs that she adopted out to indicate a problem. Multiple people have reported that dogs adopted from PURRR have attacked/killed other pet. One of PURRR’s dogs also mauled a young boy. And more than one animal control agency has reported problems with PURRR. This is a consistent pattern of behavior that can’t be ignored.
not everything here is true and people do not even read people just assuming She is awesome person who trying to help so many Do you think everything going smooth in your life IF you do rescue you know it is not . Also the girl above put screenshot you clearly can see she did not use tazer on dog she used on the cage to stop dog fights What better dogs fight each other to death or use something to stop She clearly said she did not use it on the dog !!!! A lot in this article is a lie I know Diana and she is awesome rescuer She helped to safe many dogs She helped many people She is truly amazing person and rescuer, It just disgrace when people using their anger without any common sense just like people on this thread who talking badly about her
I am completely confused the this – January 28, 2015 by SDogSpot Author “I hope VanDusen will change her mind and allow other groups to take her dogs.” If there have been previous incidence where dogs adopted through her rescue have mauled a child, photos of inadequate housing facilities, documented proof of her treating the animals in her care inhumanly, then why on earth is this person being given the respect and courtesy to “change her mind”? Pull ALL of these animals ( her profits) , business license, revoke her non-profit status and get every animal into safe environments ASAP
Tasers????? Wtf is wrong with this woman? Smh
This is shades of Steve Markwell all over again.
* Exposed by a former volunteer with a “vendetta” against her. (I thank that person for stepping forward!)
* Dogs kept in dangerous and inhumane conditions.
* Dogs being “rescued” while no adoptions are made for those already there.
* Dogs being “rescued” without any apparent means of financially supporting them – providing food, vetting, proper housing, fresh air and exercise, socialization, REHABILITATION for those who need it… until they are ready to be adopted.
* Hiding dogs away in “undisclosed locations” where no potential adopters can see them, and where no potential donors can see they’re being well cared for. If there’s nothing to hide, why are you hiding them?
* Constantly crying about funds (thus all the fund raisers, etc) but never providing financial documents about where the donated funds are being used.
* Followers yelling “don’t criticize, help her!!” – and the help wanted is donations.
* Followers declaring “she’s doing the best she can!” – even though her “best” is far from adequate, yet she continued taking more dogs.
* Refusing to let other rescues HELP by taking dogs off her hands and lightening her load. She is taking no positive, proactive steps to get this situation under control!
On top of all of this – how many dogs are still stuck in boarding – in California or elsewhere?? Anyone who takes a dog from a shelter cage straight to a cage at a boarding facility (many of which are as bad or worse than the shelter) to be left there indefinitely, is NOT a rescuer, in my opinion.
Need I go on?
Markwell and his fraudulent scheme at Olympic Animal Sanctuary was finally exposed for what he was (IS): A scammer making a living by promising to care for animals that have already had more than their share of misfortune, neglect and/or abuse – collecting large donations but quite obviously NOT using them to support and care for animals as promised. From the evidence (or lack of evidence to the contrary) she is no better than that savage hoarder.
I’m ashamed these people live in my state and are giving us this reputation in the rescue community. Stop. Just STOP! Bad rescues will always be exposed and shut down the end.
Does anyone have any info on Frankie and Penny? I’m worried for them.
Who are they?
Might be a technicality but what is the deal with the name on FB? Here it shows clearly as PURRR Rescue yet on FB now it’s P.U.R.R.R. Rescue. I can not find the photos that are in this article on the latter’s page. I really don’t like to share accusatory articles if there are questions. Not that I don’t think that this hasn’t happened, but I’m confused a bit. Thanks for letting me know why the discrepancy.
There were 2 PURRR Facebook pages. One was PURRR rescue, the other was P.U.R.R.R. Rescue. I have no idea why they had 2 FB pages. The pictures are from the PURRR FB page which was taken down after I wrote this post.
The two web pages stem from a few years back. Thete was a woman who volunteered there for a few months and got Diana’s trust. The volunteer created webpages to help the rescue. However, the volunteer then altered the page so that donations went into the volunteer’s personal bank account. As soon as this was discovered, the page was shut down and the volunteer was prosecuted for fraud, among other things. I am not privvy to the legal details, but the rescue had to alter the spelling for some legal reason. So there were two pages. The fraudulent page was removed, and the correct page is up.
This all seems totally off to me. Granted, I don’t know Diana well, but I did adopt my dog from her last September, and he is the sweetest, smartest dog I’ve ever known. I also worked nearby where PURRR set up shop on weekends, and was always impressed by how they handled the dogs. These accusations do not seem to reflect Diana’s character.
Also, whenever my dog sees Diana or the other volunteers of PURRR, he gets really excited and wiggly. I doubt he’d be this happy to see his first rescue family if he witnessed abuse or was mistreated.
I totally agree with you Ashley. I’ve adopted two dogs from Diana. One a year ago in January and another in June. My dogs both get very excited when they see her, wiggling all around and licking her face. If they were mistreated by her they wouldn’t react to her in this way.
I have also spent several hours on different Saturdays and Sundays at adoption events. I do this because I enjoy spending time with dogs. I have never witnessed Diana being cruel, tazing, or using shock collars on any of the dogs. All of the digs wear regular nylon collars.
I think Diana is great lady and one kindest people I’ve ever met. She has a heart of gold. I wish the best for the rescue.
I am appalled and dismayed at all of the postings. It appears to be a complete and vile witch hunt on one person. Knowing Diana she would not harm a dog and this malicious intent to harm ones credibility is despicable.
Vicious, cruel, who in the world would do such a thing while at the same time, proclaiming they care about the dogs? Shame on everyone who feeds into the trash on the Internet. Now because of a pack of fools, these dogs do not have an outlet. What was everyone thinking? One would think this could have been handled in a different manner and as for the yellow-jacket journalism that is written, maybe the writer should find a new hobby.
Writing uniquely positive work within the community is better then, destroying and reducing the chances of great dogs finding homes. California networkers’ did not have issues with pushing dogs on DIana; but when several dogs had issues the world fell apart on-line.
What is the real issue that lies in each person on-line? Why so much pain within the heart? What people should be asking is, ” how could you help Diana without attacking?” ” What could we do to aide in finding the dog homes, without scorn?”
Witch-hunts, lies, trolling, harms the dogs and if everyone cares then be a solution, not an issue. Lastly, ask yourself, ” what would you do if people publicly posted malicious garbage with intent to harm or destroy, about you?” Put the shoe on the other foot. Step back and look at yourself in the mirror, is this truly constructive?
The FBI, local police departments are now beginning to prosecute vile information on the Internet. Get the facts before posting, seek the truth; but don’t run with those who tell a story, it can be a complete facid to vindicate there own transgressions.
Reading those posting, she never openly admitted she (tasered )dogs. Never heard of such a thing. That is not a complete conversation that has been posted for people to see, its a clip to force people to look at one side and not all sides of this article. Post the conversation in its entirety without deleting a word and then allow people to determine the truth. That is called honesty when writing on-line.
In Washington state, dogs do have to stay warm if they were in tents, is that not correct? She would be viciously attacked if she did not care for them too. What I see is someone who is doing all that they can for the dogs and people who are ruthless and create drama.
As for the writer of this article. You should work on aligning and working as one for the better of the dogs in Washington state.
As for reputable rescues not keeping dogs in boarding for months? Not true. Lab and Friends had a slew of dogs in California that were in boarding for months, that does not make them a bad rescue. Many reputable rescues lie about what they are really hiding so the public does not get wind of what they are doing.
The best thing is to keep those dogs safe. Hiding? Who would blame her? But for those who truly know her, also realize she is none of the above and is not cold, brazen, heartless, nor would she harm a dog.
Again, post the text in its entirety, with out edit or delete when placing someone’s conversation on-line. Is this a debate? Appears to be but the only thing is she is not allowed to rebuttal. Facts before fiction, honesty and truth is what people are seeking and honestly its not seen here.
“I don’t put on dog I fire up to scare apart. I only touch Dolly cage it blasted her on foot.”
“I hit her cage it sent it through cage to her feet she instantly let go jolted back.”
“The pain caused her to trigger and it wasn’t straight taser was off the cage.”
In my opinion, these statements by Diana made it clear she used a taser to try and control the dogs. I don’t understand what other information you need. And since these are screenshots I couldn’t delete any words. They are all there.
It has been documented that multiple dogs adopted out by PURRR have either killed pets or mauled kids. Records show she adopted out dogs with behavior problems to people without telling them. Some of them ended up being euthanized. PURRR has had numerous confrontations with animal control. Tacoma Humane Society and Puyallup Rescue will no longer allow her to pull dogs due to their past experiences with her.
I don’t understand how writing about it is a “witch hunt.” I don’t know anything about Labs and Friends but I stand by my statement that reputable rescues don’t keeps dogs in boarding for months on end.
I understand that some people like yourself may disagree with what I’ve written, but that doesn’t change the facts.
There are plenty of rescues that have operated for years without adopting out dogs that have killed pets or mauled kids. They don’t have to hide their dogs. They don’t have multiple run ins with animal control. They don’t board dogs for months. Why can’t PURRR operate like them?